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Posts Tagged Berwyn Fire Department

After 33 years and eight months working for the Berwyn Fire Department – the past 11 years as chief – 58-year-old Denis O’Halloran’s last day on duty was April 2.

After a few years as an EMT, he became a Berwyn firefighter in August 1985. He was later promoted to lieutenant and then to deputy chief/shift commander. After nine years in that role, he was named fire chief in March 2008.

O’Halloran has seen the number of calls nearly double from 4,000 to 5,000 a year to around 8,000. Most of those are medical. About 250 are structure fires each year.

The department is more involved in the community under the leadership of O’Halloran, who made sure firefighters attended block parties and read to students at schools. Before he became chief, he started a Citizens Fire Academy, which teaches residents about the training firefighters go through, from setting splints to climbing fire ladders to using the jaws of life in a staged car accident. It meets each autumn.

Many memories will stay with him forever. In 1976, while in high school, he skipped church to watch the impressive fire at the Berwyn Lumber Yard. The biggest fire he worked was the one at the World’s Largest Laundromat on Cermak Road. Other memorable fires were at a RE/MAX office and the Seneca Restaurant, both on Cermak.

He and other Berwyn firefighters went to New Orleans to help with the cleanup after Hurricane Katrina.

O’Halloran is glad his career was spent working in his hometown. In 1974, he graduated from St. Leonard Grammar School. In 1978, he graduated from Morton West High School, where he played football. He attended the 40th reunion on crutches in September after his softball injury.

The fire department has a new chief. Thomas A. Hayes’ first day was April 3. Kris Coniglio is the department’s new assistant chief.

Congratulations and a huge Thank You to the City of Berwyn IL Fire Department on the delivery of your newest Wheeled Coach Type III ambulance. With the patented Cool Bar HVAC system, Whelen LED interior and warning lights,CN 10 cabinetry Berwyn realizes the safety and value Wheeled Coach and Fire Service, Inc. provides. As one of our longest supporters, we thank you again for your business. When the busiest EMS agencies choose Fire Service, Inc to service their needs, repeatedly, there is value in that decision. Contact your Fire Service, Inc. sales team for more info on this unit, as well as all of our apparatus lines and fleet maintenance opportunities for your agency.

The Berwyn Fire Department received a 911 call reporting a fire in the 1500 block of Home Avenue at 8:15 p.m. the evening of April 15. When units arrived, they saw light smoke coming from the front door, which the residents had opened. Heavy fire was discovered coming from the basement area in the back of the home. The fire caused extensive damage in the basement and spread to the kitchen area damaging the first floor as well.

There were three occupants in the home at the time of the fire, and they each escaped without injury. While the exact cause of the fire has not been determined, it was related to a dryer in the basement that was in use at the time. Homes are required to have smoke detectors on every level. Firefighters could not locate a detector in the basement, and the first-floor alarm did not activate.

Berwyn firefighters were assisted on the scene by the North Riverside Fire Department.

Berwyn responded to a call for a house fire Tuesday night (12/26/27) @ 3524 s Gunderson. First company arrived and found a 1.5-sty bungalow with a fully involved attic, that had already extended to the exposure to the north. Companies lead out 5 lines in total, and used the aerial pipe to bring the fire under control. I arrived with the first company.

Eighteen ambulances responded to a pep rally at Morton West High School in Berwyn Friday afternoon after nurses became inundated with students reporting heat-related illnesses.

Berwyn Fire Chief Dennis O’Halloran said the calls of heat exhaustion started coming in around 3 p.m. The students were in the school’s stadium. Six patients were transported to hospitals and one signed a release form to go home with their parents.

Anyone else in the stadium that did not go to the hospital was sent home. A walking parade between Morton West and Morton East high schools began at 1 p.m. but it was unclear if those students were sick.

Here are some photos of the Berwyn FD and Berwyn E.S.D.A. rigs that were at the annual Oktoberfest (9/16/17), the crews were operating the Division 11 smoke trailer, for the children attending the event. Thanks

A suburban firefighter is recovering after he was robbed, shot, and nearly paralyzed in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood early Monday morning.

The 27-year-old firefighter and paramedic works out of a firehouse in Berwyn. Chicago police said he was shot in the face during a robbery in the 1800-block of West Erie Street. No one is in custody. The investigation is ongoing.

The firefighter is now out of the hospital, recovering at home, and anxious to get back in uniform. He has been working at the Berwyn Fire Department for two and a half years.